According to Natural Resources Canada, approximately forty percent of Canada’s territory lies beyond the coast line beneath the sea and extends to 200 nautical miles (nm) offshore. Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea – UNCLOS – coastal states that have a wide continental margin, like Canada, can obtain sovereign rights over an area beyond the 200 nm - the extended continental shelf. This would give Canada the exclusive rights to the resources on and below the seabed in this area (e.g., oil and gas). 

 

In partnership with Canadian government researchers, Geoforce participated in studies of Canada's continental margins including Labrador, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and in the Arctic. The Geoforce DTS® sub bottom profiler provided subsurface data to map sediment thicknesses, sediment continuity and sedimentary processes in support of Canada's submission for an extended continental shelf. 

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The sparker mode of the DTS was generally used for these purposes because of the great water depths where these data are needed.

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